


Wally on the Watchtower

by Alleyn



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25765183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alleyn/pseuds/Alleyn
Summary: The Watchtower doesn't have any forensic scientists on staff, so all the heroes have to deal with evidence they collect by themselves, or hand it over to local authorities for processing. Batman, of course, runs all his own samples. During a case where he has a lot of evidence to process, he ends up being late for a meeting. This prompts Mr. Terrific to suggest they hire a forensic scientist. Batman has just the guy in mind... Wally West, AKA The Flash.Not only would someone trustworthy be examining the evidence, but it would also make it a lot easier for Wally to run out to be the Flash during work hours.
Comments: 29
Kudos: 46





	1. Two Birds, One Stone

Mr. Terrific was successfully multitasking; not only was he coordinating Justice League missions, he was also watching the monitors for any signs of trouble and doing last Saturday’s New York Times Crossword puzzle simultaneously. Mr. Terrific smirked as he filled in a word on the crossword: _aglet_. Ever since he had heard Question expound about how aglets are a part of The Conspiracy, the very thought of aglets amused Mr. Terrific.

Mr. Terrific shifted his eyes back to the monitors in front of him while he thought about the next crossword clue. Just as he was starting to fill in the blanks, a call came into the Watchtower. Glancing over at the comm ID, the hero saw that it was Batman. Sighing, Mr. Terrific put down his pen and pressed one of the 746 buttons on the console in front of him, “This is the Watchtower. Go ahead, Batman.”

“Terrific, tell the other Founders that I am going to be late to our meeting,” Batman ordered.

Mr. Terrific rolled his eyes at Batman’s terse command and replied, “I’m sure they would like a reason for your tardiness, Batman.” He picked up the pen again and filled in the word as he waited for Batman’s reply.

“If you must know,” Batman muttered icily, “I am analyzing a time sensitive sample.”

Mr. Terrific did not let the Bat’s bad attitude affect him. Everyone knew that Batman lectured heroes when they were late to meetings. To be late himself must be killing the guy on the inside. But something else was bothering him… “Don’t we have people for that?”

“We do not.” Batman paused a moment before continuing, “We have doctors, maintenance crews, food workers, and a few other civilian positions. But no forensic scientists.”

Mr. Terrific hummed thoughtfully as he considered this, “We do have some open laboratories still. Perhaps we should hire one?”

Batman appeared to consider this if the silence on his end was any indication. “I know just who to ask,” Batman said, satisfaction dripping from his voice, “Two birds, one stone.” A beep sounded as the call ended.

The hero started pulling up the required papers for the new employee as he messaged the other founders to inform them about Batman’s tardiness. With a start, Mr. Terrific realized that Batman had never told him who they were going to hire. But Mr. Terrific was not called the world’s third smartest man for nothing; he emailed two copies of the papers to Batman… one set without personal details filled in and another set with the name _Wallace Rudolph West_ of Central City.

* * *

Wally looked up from his lab work as his coworker Tony called out to him, “Wally, the boss wants to see you!”

“Any idea why?” Wally raised an eyebrow at him as he strode out of the forensics room, lab coat swishing behind him.

“Nope, just that it’s important. Good luck!” Tony replied to his retreating back.

As Wally approached his boss’ office, his mind was swarming with thoughts, “ _Why does he want to see me? Did I do something wrong? Did I do something right? Did something happen to Aunt Iris or Uncle Barry? Oh God, I hope not. They’re my only family besides the League and_ _the Garricks.”_

Sometimes, Wally experienced the downsides of his powers. Sure, he ran fast and healed fast because of his powers. But on the flip side, he could barely afford to pay for all the food he had to eat because of it before he joined the League and had access to the cafeteria. If he didn’t eat enough, he would pass out from low blood sugar. Of course, the more he used his powers the more he had to consume.

Another downside was that when he got anxious, his powers tended to activate until he calmed down. He always had to be careful to regulate his movement when he started worrying, lest his secret identity be revealed. Of course, with his powers active, Wally’s perception of time was altered. What’s the point of superspeed after all if you keep running into walls?

Currently, Wally’s powers were active. He was thinking a mile a minute, worrying about why his boss wanted to talk to him in private. When he noticed that he appeared to be moving slowly, he realized that he was actually just thinking fast. Unnaturally fast. Speedster fast. At least he had trained himself to not move fast by accident. That would be a disaster. The only outward sign of Wally accidentally activating his powers tended to be speed talking, which was just slow enough to not raise suspicion.

Wally took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. It helped a little, and by the time he arrived at his boss’ office, Wally was calm. He opened the door and he saw someone who inspired another bout of worry. _“Why is Bats here?!?!”_

Wally watched time crawl by slowly as his boss opened his mouth. It was always a bit difficult to understand words at superspeed, but Wally generally managed. Wally gaped as he pieced together his boss’ words, the shock throwing him out of superspeed. His boss had just told him that Bats had a job opportunity for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Wally is a forensic scientist in JL / JLU. 
> 
> There is a comic series based on JLU. In one of the issues, Blue Beetle counts the number of buttons on the console, coming up with a total of 746. In another issue Jay Garrick (the first Flash) appears, although there is no mention of Barry being a speedster that I've seen. However, I'm not done reading the series.


	2. Wally's First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally has his first day of work on the Watchtower as a forensic scientist.

Despite how friendly Wally was with everyone on the Watchtower as the Flash, very few of them knew his secret identity. If he had to guess, only the other Founders, Mr. Terrific, Question, and Dr. Mid-Nite were in the know. They had all found out for different reasons: the Founders because of the Thanagarian invasion, Mr. Terrific as the league coordinator, Question because Question probably knew _everyone’s_ identity, and Dr. Mid-Nite as his physician.

Outside of the League, five people knew that Flash and Wally were one and the same. He had told all of them himself. First, he had told his Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry when he first got his powers. He wasn’t Flash back then. After a few days of testing out his powers, Uncle Barry had recalled that he had heard of someone else with superspeed: Jay Garrick. They had gone to Keystone, Central City’s sister city, together to ask for the man’s help. While there, they had also met Joan Garrick, who Wally affectionately liked to call Grammy Flash. Wally’s estranged mother also knew; after thinking about it and discussing it with Uncle Barry, Wally had decided to tell her.

It wasn’t as if Wally didn’t trust the other Leaguers. It wasn’t a matter of trust; it was a matter of security. The less people who knew his secret identity, the better. At least, that’s what Batman had told him, right before painting a grim picture of what could happen if his secret identity got revealed to the world. Wally preferred not to believe the worst would happen, but it wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.

As such, Wally made sure to enter the Watchtower as any other civilian employee would for their first time. Wally knew this drill, had participated as part of the other side many times. A member of the League, usually one of the Founders, would come to pick up the civilian and teleport with them to the Watchtower. They would stay with the civilian while they got their prints taken, eyes scanned (they had increased security after the break-in), picture taken, and ID issued. Then they would go to Mr. Terrific to get a comm. After that, they would go on a tour of the Watchtower, ending at their workplace.

Wally decided to wear a dress shirt with his jeans. Batman had told him that his regular work attire would suffice, but Wally wanted to make a good impression on the other scientists…at least on his first day. While some of the civilian jobs on the Watchtower had uniforms, the scientists didn’t. All they had to do was make sure they always wore their ID and used safety equipment while they were working. Wally was glad that they didn’t have a required uniform.

However, Wally had already decided that he was always going to wear his lab coat when in his civilian identity on the Watchtower regardless. Lab coats were just that cool. Of course, Wally would make sure to take off his lab coat when he ate. It wouldn’t do to get food on it and then subsequently have that food contaminate his samples.

Wally took one last look in the mirror and combed his fingers through his red hair, hoping to tame his hair. His hair always did get a bit wild after going out as the Flash. Sighing, Wally left his hair alone as his alarm rang, signaling that it was time to meet with Batman.

Wally flashed over to the meeting place, a faint gust of wind telling of his passage. Wally made sure to go fast enough that no one could distinguish his features but went slow enough to not burn up his clothes. He had to be careful when running without his suit.

Wally appeared to materialize besides Batman as he slid to a stop beside him. He briefly wondered if he ever startled Bruce when he did this. If Batman was ever surprised, he sure didn’t show it. All he would do is acknowledge his presence with a short nod and his name.

Batman did so this time as well, “Wally.”

While Wally called Batman Bruce if he was certain no one would overhear, Batman changed his address based on whether he was in the suit or not. In the rare instances where Batman called Flash Wally, he knew whatever they were talking about was important.

Batman gestured for Wally to stand near him as he messed with him comm. “Two for transport.”

Teleportation was always a weird experience for Wally. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t get used to it. Due to his powers, Wally could _feel_ himself breaking down. Sure, it wasn’t particularly painful, but it was just plain disturbing, losing sensation in his limbs like that.

The heroes and civilians on the Watchtower used the same teleportation room, so Wally was familiar with the surroundings when they teleported in. Even so, he made sure to scan the room with visible excitement. It wouldn’t do to look like he’d been there before. He had a secret identity to protect after all.

Wally and Batman went through the process of setting up Wally West’s security credentials. Wally smiled while his picture was taken, but not a big smile, like the Flash would do. After that, they went to see Mr. Terrific. Instead of giving Wally a new comm, Mr. Terrific set it up such that all calls for Wally West would route to Flash’s comm.

Wally got a lot of raised eyebrows from the other Founders on board during Batman’s tour. Batman showed Wally all the areas that a civilian worker would be allowed in. Wally was already familiar with most of these areas from his runs around the Watchtower. The only area that he hadn’t visited before was the second cafeteria. Because of the amount that Wally needed to eat as the Flash, Batman had assigned him to a specific cafeteria, so that both cafeterias wouldn’t need to try to keep up with his voracious appetite.

Near the end of the tour, Batman introduced him to a few other scientists. They all had their labs in the same wing of the Watchtower as him. The conversations went something like this: “Hi, I’m Wally, I’m going to work in lab 5F from now on! I’m a forensic scientist.” They all shook his hand and introduced themselves in turn. He even got invited to join a couple of them for lunch!

Finally, Wally and Batman arrived at lab 5F. Wally opened the door with his new ID card and surveyed his domain. There was a lab coat hanging on a hook to the left of the door. Smiling, Wally grabbed it and shimmied into it, rearranging his ID so it was pinned to the coat. He glanced at Batman to see a small, amused smile on his face. Feeling impulsive, Wally spun around and stuck his hands on his hips, grinning at Batman, “Looks good, doesn’t it?”

To Wally’s surprise, Batman let out a small laugh, closing the door behind him. After a second of staring at the Bat in shock, Wally turned back to his examination of the room. It was stocked with all the proper equipment for a forensic lab, although there were two fridges for some reason. Perplexed, Wally walked over to the fridges and opened them. The first one was empty save for a few containers, theoretically for sample storage. The second fridge’s contents had him turning to Batman with glee.

“Thanks Bats! This really means a lot you know.” The fridge was near overflowing with many types of ready to eat food. Wally spun around and rummaged through the fridge for a moment, coming out with a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, a cup of yogurt (which conveniently had a spoon attached to it), and a soda. He was getting hungry. Breakfast was a whole three hours ago!

Wally set his food down on a nearby table for a moment to remove his lab coat, draping it over a chair. He considered the room while munching on his food. Overall, it was a genuinely nice forensics room, but it was missing flair. It was too plain. Wally glanced over at Batman and swallowed his bite before speaking, “Hey Bats, do you mind if I decorate a little around here?” Bats hated it when he talked with his mouth full.

“Go ahead, as long as it does not interfere with your work.” Bats replied. Batman considered for a moment before continuing, “Bring up whatever you want to decorate with tomorrow. Remember, as a civilian anything you bring up will be examined by security.”

Wally let out a whoop at Batman’s words, fist pumping the air as he celebrated. After a moment, Wally glanced at Batman. He was still there. Huh.

“What’re you still doing here, Bats? Isn’t the tour done?” Wally asked, eyebrows raised in question. While waiting for an answer, he finished eating his food and threw away the trash. After he washed his hands, Wally put his lab coat back on.

The Bat finally replied, “Not quite.” He strode over to the computer on one of the desks and logged in. He navigated over to a symbol and double clicked it, activating the program. Batman explained, “I imagine you will want to use your speed to help accomplish your tasks. This program works with a proximity sensor and alerts you when someone is coming, via your comm. This should help curb anyone sneaking up on you while you use your speed.”

Wally whistled in appreciation and tested it out, flashing to the door and stepping outside. As advertised, a beeping noise sounded over his comm. Perfect. Amazing. He could hug Bats for how great his lab was. Hmm. Maybe he should? Closing the door, Wally walked over to Bats and gave him a hug. The Dark Knight was tense at first, but gradually returned the hug after a couple seconds. Wally looked up and gave him a small smile and whispered, “Thanks, Bruce.”

After a few more seconds, Wally disengaged from the hug and stepped back, lest he try Batman’s patience. For a second, it looked as if Bruce was reaching for him, wanting to draw him back into the hug. Wally dismissed the notion as merely a fantasy rather quickly. This was Bats. He didn’t like touchy feely stuff.

Wally continued on as if nothing had happened, “Soooooo, Bats, what do I do when there is nothing to analyze? Like right now. Do I need to stay here, or can I wander around?”

Batman was quick to answer, “You should generally stay here, in case someone needs you to analyze something. Of course, if you need to suit up, that takes priority. I also set up your computer to notify you if anything happens down in Central City while you’re here.” Batman reached down to his utility belt and took some baggies out. “I have some samples here that I need you to check out.” He handed the samples to Wally, who looked at them curiously. “Email me the results when you are done.”

Batman waited for a minute for Wally to acknowledge what he said. When nothing happened, he called out, “Wally.”

“Hmm?” Wally mumbled, still inspecting the samples. Belatedly, he gave Bats a thumbs up and a, “Sure thing, Bats,” as he wandered over to his lab equipment.

* * *

Flash ran through the Watchtower hallways, sprinting towards his lab to change. He had finished the analysis on Batman’s evidence and emailed him the results. Immediately after he was done, as if the world knew he had free time, the computer informed him of a fire in Central City. He had flashed over to the teleporters quickly, making sure to change into his suit first. Once everyone was safe and the fire was out, Wally had run an impromptu patrol of Central City. He was glad he did, as he managed to prevent a couple of accidents and caught a mugger. And then Wally had looked at the time and quickly requested transport to the Watchtower.

Wally changed and glanced at the clock in the room. It was a few minutes until noon, when he was meeting two of the other scientists for lunch. He had enough time to eat some snacks from his fridge.

After devouring some more sandwiches, Wally left his lab to meet Randy and Paula. Randy was a short man with long brown hair drawn into a ponytail at the back of his head. He wore a graphic t-shirt under his lab coat, with the design not fully visible and blue jeans. Paula, on the other hand, was one of the few scientists who only wore their lab coats when experimenting. She had dyed a lock of her short hair an electric blue, which worked well with the rest of her black hair. She had on slacks and a long-sleeved t-shirt that faded from black at the top to white at the bottom.

The three chatted as they walked to the cafeteria. Wally told the two about how Batman had shown up at his work yesterday, offering him this job. About how after some consideration (and a Batglare), Wally had accepted. About how excited he was about this job, but also sad that he wouldn’t see his former coworkers (his friends) Tony, Rick, and Margie nearly as often. He didn’t tell them about how much easier dashing out to be the Flash was here than at the police station. He didn’t mention that was one of his main reasons for accepting this job.

Wally restrained himself from taking more than a normal amount of food at the cafeteria. He would go visit the other cafeteria as the Flash after he was done here. Thinking of the other cafeteria, Wally wondered out loud why so few heroes frequented this one.

Randy, who was in the midst of showing him pictures of his 7-year-old daughter, answered him, “They generally eat in the other cafeteria. Heroes generally only eat here when they’re avoiding other heroes. Most of the civilians eat here too. A lot feel intimidated by the heroes or are shy and rarely visit the other cafeteria.”

Huh. So that was why he rarely saw civilians in the cafeteria he ate at as Flash. Wally considered this for a moment and decided to bring it up to Batman when he next saw him. It wouldn’t do for things to be awkward between the heroes and civilians on the Watchtower.

Wally asked what the two worked on. Randy told him that he was working on better windows for the Watchtower. Wally understood why it was important. Wally couldn’t count the number of close calls they’ve had after someone unexpectedly broke one of their viewing windows. He was just glad no one had died from them. Paula was working with some heroes to help them design better suits for combat. Wally would visit her as Flash, but his suit was already pretty optimized. If he went to anyone at this point for suit changes, it would be Batman. Not only because Batman would throw a fit if he let anyone mess with his suit… at least that’s what he told himself.

The trio finished their lunch (or in Wally’s case, a light snack) and returned to their labs. As they were about to part, Wally told them, “Thanks for inviting me, I had fun.”

The two smiled at him and told him he could join them tomorrow as well. Wally thought about it and declined, “I’m going to try going to the other cafeteria tomorrow. How about tomorrow’s tomorrow?”

Randy and Paula agreed to this and wished him luck in visiting the hero cafeteria. If only they knew he was going there now, as not Wally West, but the Flash.

Wally ducked into his lab, checked it was empty, and pressed the button on his ring. His suit leaped out of the ring, expanding in midair until it was the correct size. Before the suit touched the ground, Wally flashed into it, appearing as a tornado of red and yellow. After making sure the suit was on correctly, Wally disinfected his gloves. He was going to go eat after all, and he had been in the suit earlier in the day.

Flash left the lab room, opening and closing the door so fast that the human eye couldn’t see it. No need for anyone to see Flash entering or leaving Wally West’s lab. He then ran at what was a stroll for him but was as fast as a car speeding down a highway for normal people. He was careful to run slow enough that he could react to unexpected events. Someone could get really hurt if he crashed into them at high speeds.

Wally slowed down as he neared the hero cafeteria, waving to Blue Beetle and high fiving Booster Gold as he passed them by. Flash made a beeline to the food once he entered. There were no lunch ladies serving and cooking the food today. Instead there were two men. Briefly, Wally wondered if this made them lunch gentlemen. Flash piled his tray high with food, flashed over to his usual table, deposited it, and went back for another tray.

Wally set down his second tray and sat down with John and Diana at the table. As he munched on his food, John questioned him about earlier.

“What was that about earlier, Hotshot?” Ever since Wally had scolded John for using his name when they were checking to see if Wally and Luthor had gotten successfully switched back, John became a lot more careful about calling him Wally while he was in the suit.

Wally glanced around the room quickly, saw no one with super hearing, saw one person that he knew could lip read (but it was Question, and Question already knew) and decided to explain. Wally leaned in and whispered to John and Diana, “You know I’m a forensic scientist. Batman and Mr. Terrific thought it would be a good idea if I work here. Did you know that we had no forensic scientists on the roster before?”

“Really?” John spoke quietly, stunned. “One would think we would’ve had a forensic scientist here.”

“Well,” Wally answered, “Batman always did his own analysis, and a lot of heroes don’t bother collecting evidence from what I understand. I’m not surprised you didn’t know, considering that your ring can analyze stuff for you.”

Diana broke into the conversation, “I’m not too familiar with the proper procedure to collect evidence, Flash. Perhaps it would be wise to host a lesson for the heroes about how to go about doing this.”

Wally ate another burger before responding, “That’s a good idea, Princess. I’ll talk to Bats about setting it up.” Wally finished his food and got up. “Well, I gotta get back to work, just in case anyone shows up. I doubt it, the word’s probably not out yet.” With that, Wally flashed out of the cafeteria and to his lab.

After changing out of his costume and into his clothes and lab coat, Wally checked his email. There was an email about a mandatory safety seminar that he had to attend tomorrow, as a new employee. Wally already knew this stuff. He had attended one of these meetings as the Flash. There was an email from Batman as well. It was a message indicating that he had received the results and been able to use them to catch the perpetrator. Wally briefly wondered if this was the closest Bruce ever got to saying thank you. He would take it.

_Beep_. Hmm, someone was about to enter the lab. Wally closed his email and looked busy. The door opened, prompting Wally to turn around on his swivel chair. Oh, it was just Question, Wally was wondering when he was going to show up.

Wally didn’t bother to pretend he didn’t know him, “Question. What’s up?”

The faceless man closed the door behind him and spoke, “Flash. You work here now? I saw you in the employee cafeteria.”

Wally wasn’t surprised that Question had been in the cafeteria. He was probably disguised as a worker. Wally answered as he spun around on his chair, “Yea, I do. Batman and Mr. Terrific thought it would be a good idea. I was pretty surprised when Bats showed up at my work yesterday. Anyways, since you already know who I am, feel free to call me Wally if I’m not in the suit.”

“Very well, Wally.” Question appeared to size him up for a moment and then continued, “I would appreciate if you could run some samples for me.” Question took out some bags from his trench coat and handed them to Wally.

Wally accepted the bags and set them down next to his equipment. “Sure thing, Question. That’s what I’m here for after all.” He thought for a moment, “How do you want to receive the results? Email? Paper copies?”

“Paper copies. Page me on my communicator when you are done,” Question replied, before turning around and leaving.

Wally put on latex gloves and went to work on the samples, examining some of them with his microscope. He stuck the swab with blood on it into a machine that would hopefully tell whose it was. According to the instruction manual that he had read on it, this machine worked faster than the one at the CCPD did. The results should be back before his shift was over for the day. Wally also checked for fingerprints on the knife Question had brought him. He managed to pull some off and ran them through the database. Thankfully, the Watchtower had access to databases containing fingerprints and DNA.

Wally started to write up reports on the other samples while he waited for the fingerprints and DNA analysis to be done. Knowing Question, he imagined that he would appreciate a hand-written copy more than a printed one. Having the report printed would require it to be sent to the printer. Someone could access the printer records and print it again. Wally first drafted out his reports in pencil and then neatly wrote them in pen using superspeed. His handwriting could be neat when he wanted it to. He usually wrote slightly messy as the Flash though, to better mask his identity.

After finishing those reports, Wally checked up on the fingerprint analysis. It wasn’t quite done yet. Neither was the DNA. As he had nothing to do, Wally decided to appease some of his hunger with food from the fridge. Wally took off his lab coat and latex gloves before he ate and settled in his chair by the computer. He decided to continue going through his email. There was nothing else important in Wally’s email. It was time to check Flash’s. Ah, he had a mission report from a couple of days ago that he still needed to do. Wally got on it, typing as fast as the computer would pick up the inputs. The report was done in less than a minute at superspeed, most of the time used thinking of what to say. Wally sent in the report.

Wally walked over to the fridge to grab more food to eat. The fridge was one third empty already and he still had another two hours to go. It would be half empty at least by the time he was done for the day. Wally flipped through some of the equipment manuals as he ate his food with one hand, careful not to get any on the pages. Once his food was consumed, Wally washed his hands and put away the manuals he read. Glancing over, he saw that the fingerprints were done. He pressed a button to print the results.

Wally glanced at the paper after he picked it up. A match was found. Wally memorized the name just in case it came up in a separate investigation. Then he placed the paper with his pile of reports. The DNA was still not done. Bored, Wally turned back to his computer. He decided to play some games without superspeed. Games were boring with his speed active; he could react instantly, and the games would take forever to go to the next frame.

Wally typed snake in on the web browser and hit enter. Results popped up, most of them having to do with the game. A few links down, the word ‘Flash’ caught his attention. Curious, Wally clicked on it. It was a game. He clicked play. Wally laughed at what he saw. It was snake alright, but instead of a snake, you played as the Flash. Thankfully, the Flash on the screen did not grow a tail as the food item was consumed. Instead, his ‘tail’ was a gust of wind that grew bigger as he ate more food. Caught up in the graphics as he was, Wally mistimed his turn and Flash crashed into a wall. Ouch, that would hurt in real life.

Wally glared at the screen as it announced his score: 10. He could do better. He would do better. It was a matter of pride now! Wally focused intently. On the screen, Flash dodged his own turbulence to get to the food. As the counter hit 50, the Flash on the screen sped up. Caught off guard, Wally was barely able to avert disaster.

Soon enough, the counter reached 100. Wally was ready for the next speed increase, successfully managing to stay alive. At 125, catastrophe struck. Captain Cold and Heatwave spawned on the borders. Wally got his 126th food item, this time a slice of pizza, right before he pathed into a patch of ice. The Flash on the screen fell and got frozen in a block of ice by Captain Cold.

Wally checked on the DNA. It was still not done. He decided to see if he could beat his score. When Captain Cold and Heatwave materialized this time, he was careful not to go on the squares affected by their guns. When the counter reached 135, members of the Justice League teleported in to fight Captain Cold and Heatwave. As the 140th food item was collected, they had finally been subdued. Wally cheered as they were defeated. Now he wouldn’t have to keep dodging them!

By 150, the grid was beginning to feel small. The speed increased again. At 175, Wally was barely hanging on, the Flash on the screen making amazing dodges. Suddenly, Gorilla Grodd materialized on the border. His avatar lit up briefly with an attack animation. Wally couldn’t control his character anymore. Wally gaped at the screen as Gorilla Grodd mind-controlled his character into the wall. What the heck. Rude.

Wally decided that he was done with this game for the day. Losing to Grodd was just frustrating. Even so, he bookmarked the page, intending to come back to it later. Perhaps he would show it to the other Founders and see how well they do. It was a pretty cool game, and he wasn’t just saying that because he was the playable character.

Wally checked on the DNA again. It was done. Finally. Wally knew that it completed fast compared to how long it usually takes, but he also had other stuff to distract him from the waiting. Wally hit the button to print it and picked up the paper when it was done. It had a different name on it than the one of the fingerprints, so Wally memorized it just in case. He placed it with the other papers and paper-clipped them together. Then, he asked Mr. Terrific to page Question for him.

After a few minutes spent snacking, washing his hands, and putting back on his lab coat, Question showed up, a _beep_ warning of his approach. Wally handed the papers to Question. He got the impression that Question was smiling at him from beneath the mask based on his body language.

Question shuffled through the papers, taking a few minutes to read each one. While he waited, Wally considered what he was going to bring up to decorate his lab with. Hmm. He had some Justice League bobbleheads. He always picked up any he saw in the store that he didn’t have already. He had all the Founders and a few other Justice League members so far, including Question.

He could also bring his framed picture of himself and Flash. Technically, it was a picture of J’onn and Flash. Flash had been invited to the same police ball that Wally had. Instead of freaking out about this, Wally had considered this an excellent opportunity to cement his secret identity. If Wally West and Flash were seen in the same place, there was no way that Wally was Flash right? And so, Wally had asked J’onn to shapeshift into him for the evening. They even took a picture together.

Wally was brought out of his thoughts by Question speaking, “Good job, Wally. This will help my investigation.”

Wally beamed at the praise, happy to be a help. “You’re welcome.”

As Question left, Wally glanced at the clock. His shift was almost over. There were only a couple minutes left. Glancing around, Wally moved to his equipment to clean up. By the time he was done cleaning, he was off the clock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically speaking, Dr. Fate knows at least Wally's face and first name, so he might be aware of his last as well. Red Tornado might know Wally's first name as well, as he was nearby when John called out "Wally" in the episode The Great Brain Robbery.
> 
> That said, Lex Luthor has also seen Wally's face and may know his first name as well. He had two opportunities to hear it. Shayera and John called out to him while getting him out of the Speedforce portal. John also called out "Wally" in concern when Flash keeled over after their attempt to locate Grodd. If Luthor was conscious at that point, he would have heard Wally's name.
> 
> The snake / Flash game is not real. I know, it's sad. At first I intended it to be exactly like snake, but then it evolved.


	3. Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally bakes cookies, brings them to the Watchtower, and shares. Wally eats lunch with Batman and the other heroes are curious.

Wally hummed as he put the cookies in the oven. He was making two batches each of chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. If no one else wanted them, Wally would be happy to eat them himself. He didn’t bake often, but when he did, it tended to turn out well. After all, baking was just like chemistry, and he was good at chemistry.

The cookies would need to bake for 15 minutes at this temperature, so Wally had time for a short patrol before needing to take them out. Wally took out one of his rings and put it on, clicking the button to release the suit. He got into the suit in a blur of red and yellow. He raced out of his apartment and ran around for 14 minutes before returning. Wally was glad that he patrolled, as he managed to carry a pedestrian out of danger.

Wally quickly got out of his suit, changing into a Flash t-shirt and black jeans. Shayera had gotten him the t-shirt as a joke, but Wally loved it. Wally glanced at the timer for the cookies. There were still 40 seconds left on it. Plenty of time to collect his decorations. Wally flashed around his apartment, picking up a cardboard box and emptying it on the floor. He’d clean it up later, when he got back from his shift at the Watchtower. Wally carefully arranged the bobbleheads in the box, making sure that they wouldn’t get hurt in transit. He placed a framed picture in too. The timer on the oven rang.

The scent of baked goodness filled the air as Wally opened the oven. Wally glanced at the cookies within. They were a nice golden-brown color. Grinning, Wally grabbed his oven mitts, put them on, and took out the cookies, placing the trays on the stove to cool. He closed the oven and turned it off. Impatient, Wally scooped up a few cookies and put them on a plate. He then spun his arm fast, cooling down the plate of cookies with the wind generated.

Wally poured himself a glass of milk to go with the cookies. He took a cookie and dipped it into the milk. A few crumbs broke off into the milk, but Wally didn’t care. He took a bite of the cookie, then another and another. The cookie was gone in record time. Within seconds, the plate was empty. The milk fared no better. It too was practically inhaled.

Wally stood up and stretched, exclaiming, “That hit the spot!” He walked over to the cupboard and brought out two tupperware containers. As he waited for the cookies to cool down, Wally wondered if the others would like them. His coworkers at the CCPD always seemed to appreciate it when he brought cookies, but he had never taken any to the Watchtower before.

Wally corralled the cookies into the two tupperware containers, separating them by type. Taking out a couple post-it notes and a pen, Wally wrote out the ingredients and types of the cookies, then labeled the containers. Some of the heroes on the Watchtower had weird allergies due to their powers. Task thus completed, Wally put the cookies in the box with his decorations.

Wally checked his watch for the time: 6:45 A.M. His shift started at 8:00 A.M. on the Watchtower, but the Watchtower used EST to match up with the Metro Tower. Wally’s watch was set to CST which was one hour behind EST, so he actually started in 15 minutes. Hmm, he should really get going.

Wally grabbed his wallet, keys, and box before requesting transport. A few seconds later, Wally West materialized in the teleporter room. Looking around, Wally spotted a few civilians and Green Lantern in the area. He went over to the security checkpoint.

Wally went through the necessary security checks. The guy, Troy his ID read, checking the contents of his box chuckled at the bobbleheads. He paused at the picture of Flash and Wally, glanced at Wally’s t-shirt and smirked. “So, you’re a fan of Flash then?”

Wally laughed nervously, “Yea, I’m a Central City guy, even met him a few times.” Wally gestured at the cookies, “Some of those are for him.” Yes, some of those cookies were for Wally. He always made a lot so other people had a chance to eat some too.

Troy looked at the cookies with longing, “They any good?”

Wally hummed and replied, “I certainly think so. Of course, I did bake them so I might be biased. I’d offer you one, but would you even be allowed to eat it? There must be some policy about accepting food. I mean, for all you know, they could be poisoned!”

Troy laughed at his statement, “I doubt they are. But yes, you’re correct. If I make sure it’s safe to eat first, I can have it though. Luckily, Lantern is here today.” Troy waved GL over, “He can scan the cookies with his ring.”

John raised an eyebrow at Wally as he walked over. Upon arriving, he noticed the cookies and asked, shocked, “You can bake?” John’s hand crept towards the cookies as he talked.

“Yes!” Wally exclaimed, indignant, hands on his waist. He continued, voice softer, “Baking is like chemistry, and I am a forensic scientist after all.”

“You learn new things every day,” John teased. He turned towards Troy and asked what he wanted.

Troy stated matter-of-factly, “I need you to scan these cookies so I can eat one.”

John smirked at Wally as his ring scanned the cookies, “You have no idea how many times I’ve been asked to do this. People keep bringing baked goods up. Someone actually poisoned some brownies once though.” John looked at his ring’s result, “They’re edible.” John reached for a chocolate chip cookie, “But do they taste good?”

Wally watched with rapt attention as John bit into the cookie. This was the moment of truth. John’s face lit up. Wally cheered internally.

“Huh,” John started, “Color me surprised. You don’t mind if I try out one of these sugar cookies as well, do you?”

“No, go ahead,” Wally replied. “Troy, you too.”

Troy took his two cookies, and bit into the sugar one, setting aside the chocolate chip one for later. Troy gave Wally a thumbs up as he swallowed, “10/10. I’m sure Flash will enjoy them too.”

Wally blushed at the look John gave him when he heard that. Wally just had to have said he’d give some to Flash. Ughhh, he’d never hear the end of this. Embarrassed, Wally made his exit, picking up his stuff and leaving, “I have to get going. I start in a few minutes.”

After turning the corner, Wally flashed over to just around the corner from his lab, making sure no one was nearby before stopping. He walked into the hallway, stopping to knock on Randy’s and Paula’s doors to offer them a cookie. Randy wasn’t in; Paula was and accepted a sugar cookie. She offered to hold onto a chocolate chip cookie for Randy once he showed up. Wally agreed and left a cookie in her custody.

Wally’s comm _beeped_ at him just before he entered his lab. Huh, he must not have turned off the program last night. Wally made a mental note to turn it off before leaving this time. He swiped his card to unlock the lab door. Wally beelined towards his computer, intent on checking his emails. There was nothing new, just a reminder of the mandatory briefing in an hour.

Having nothing to do, Wally set about placing his bobbleheads and photo. The Batman and Question bobbleheads got placed on the desk with the computer. Remembering GL’s analysis of the cookies this morning, Wally placed his near the microscope. Recalling when he tried to get them to make up, Wally put Wonder Woman and Shayera on top of the fridge filled with food. He placed Superman on a shelf above the computer because he could fly. Wally set down the photo near the computer as well, flanking it with Flash and Martian Manhunter.

Wally stepped back and surveyed his work. Looked good. He still had a few more bobbleheads to place. Huntress got placed next to Question, Supergirl next to Superman, and Green Arrow and Black Canary on a shelf above his lab equipment.

Satisfied that his lab was looking livelier, Wally snacked on a sugar cookie as a reward. He still had a good 40 minutes until the briefing started, although he should arrive a few minutes early. The safety briefing would be an hour long. Aware that he shouldn’t be eating during it, Wally decided to have his second breakfast early. A few yogurts and sandwiches later, his stomach was happy for the moment.

Washing his hands, Wally decided to spend some more time looking over the instruction manuals. For the next 30 minutes, he read up on how to use the rest of the equipment. It was time to go to the briefing. After considering it for a moment, Wally decided to tuck the cookies on top of the fridge for safe keeping.

As he was about to leave, Wally realized he had never put on his lab coat. That just wouldn’t do. He retrieved a clean lab coat from one of the drawers and put it on. Much better. Wally walked to the meeting after locking his lab. On the way, he ran into Paula. She looked worried. As they walked together, she asked him, “Wally, have you heard from Randy? He hasn’t shown up yet.”

Wally frowned with worry, “No, I haven’t. Do you think something happened to him? He could just be late.” Wally tried to reassure her.

“He’s never been late before. Never.” She replied adamantly.

“Ok, I’ll call it in. Security will look for him.” Wally brought a hand up to his comm, “Hey, Mr. Terrific. One of my coworkers didn’t show up yet. According to another, he’s never late. We’re worried. Can you check up on him?” Wally listened for a moment before continuing, “His name is Randy. He works in lab 5D.” Wally sighed in relief at what he heard, “Ok, thanks.” The call ended and Wally turned to Paula, “He requested today off. Not sure why though, but he’s ok.”

“That’s a relief.” Paula smiled impishly, “So does that mean I can eat his cookie?”

“Hmm sure.” Wally replied as they reached the meeting room. To tell the truth, Wally was surprised that Paula was a new enough employee to have to attend the meeting. He’d gotten the impression that she had been working there for a while.

They entered the room together. Wally sat in the front row, while Paula decided to sit in the back. Shrugging, Wally turned to talk to the man seated to his left and introduced himself. The seat to the right was empty. Wally didn’t know why Paula didn’t want to sit up front, maybe she wanted to goof off?

Oh well, the meeting was starting. Wally watched as the guy he was talking to stood up and went to the podium, taking out a remote as he walked. He was the person doing the briefing? Huh. The man clicked a button on his remote, causing the projector to light up. An image appeared on the screen, saying _Safety 101_ in large, cursive letters. Well, this was definitely different than the one he went to as Flash. Wally slouched a bit in his chair as he paid attention. This would be a long hour.

* * *

Wally stretched as he got out of the chair and offered Rick, the man who ran the meeting, a thumbs up as he walked towards him. Wally gushed, “That was great! It was way more interesting than I thought it would be. I especially liked how you covered what to do if the Watchtower is attacked.”

Rick blushed, running one hand through his blond hair. “Well, it is an important topic. We tend to have a break in every few months. There hasn’t been one in the last 3 months. It’s about time for another.”

Wally thought about it for a moment. There had been quite a few attacks on the Watchtower ever since they started operating. How many had this guy been here for? “This is my second day,” Wally started, curious, “How long have you been working here?”

“Oh, a few years,” Rick said offhandedly, “Ever since the League expanded.” No wonder this guy was giving presentations. He was experienced! Rick continued speaking, “How did you like your first day? Who did you get the tour from?”

Wally smiled, “It was good. There wasn’t much to do yet though. I’m a forensic scientist. I need evidence to work on and only two people asked me to run stuff yesterday. I guess the word isn’t out yet or no one bothers to collect evidence.” Wally added on to the end, “Batman gave me the tour.”

The blonde was nodding along with his words until he mentioned Batman. He froze and whispered, “Batman is terrifying.”

Wally frowned at him, indignant. “I thought he was nice,” Wally declared, crossing his arms.

Rick shook his head, mystified, “Only you, Wally. Only you.”

Wally was more than ready to defend Batman, even if Batman _liked_ being considered scary. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Wally’s comm chose that moment to _beep_. Someone was at his lab. His indignation drained away; Wally offered Rick a pleasant goodbye.

Wally wondered who was at his lab as he sped towards it. He reduced his pace to a light jog as he passed the corner leading to it. There was no one in front of his lab. Either they had left, they had keycard access, or they broke in. Great.

Wally tried the door handle. It opened to reveal Batman eating one of his cookies. What the heck. Batman broke in to steal his cookies? Unlikely. Perhaps he had looked around and was curious if they tasted any good. Anyways, this was a good thing. Wally wasn’t sure how to get Bruce to agree to try his cookies. And he had a couple things to talk to him about as well of course.

Wally closed the door behind him, wondering, “How are they?”

Batman finished the cookie and replied, “Not as good as Alfred’s, but still good. Better than store bought ones.” Coming from Batman, that was high praise. Whoa, he actually got a compliment from the Bat. “I didn’t know you could bake.”

“And yet you risked eating it anyways,” Wally teased. “Why is everyone so surprised that I can bake? It’s like chemistry.”

Batman answered immediately, “It doesn’t fit your persona as the Flash.” Batman hummed, “Wally West however…,” Batman said, stepping a bit closer, “feels like someone who would bring baked goods to share to work.” Batman walked closer, crowding Wally a bit.

Wally felt like his face was on fire at Bruce’s proximity. Why was he so close? Bewildered, Wally took a step back. This seemed to be the wrong move, as Batman’s face hardened. Attempting to salvage the situation, Wally changed the subject. He talked about what Randy had told him yesterday and his plan to visit the hero cafeteria as a civilian to see how heroes treated them. Wally also asked Batman if he would help him set up a lesson for the heroes about how to collect evidence. While he was chattering away, Bruce’s cold demeanor softened.

When Wally ran out of words to say, Bruce spoke up, giving him a small smile, “I’ll let you get back to your work.”

Snorting, Wally thought to himself, _“What work? I literally have nothing to do.”_ As Batman left, Wally pondered on his strange behavior. _“Why did he get so close?”_

It wasn’t until Bats was out the door that Wally considered that he may have been flirting with him. Huh. Grabbing his cookies, Wally ran out the door. After a moment, he ran back in, realizing he had forgotten to take off his lab coat. Wally quickly took it off and hung it up before running out and locking the lab behind him. As if he heard the footsteps following him, Batman turned. “Hey Bats, want to get lunch together?”

“With you?” _or Flash?_ went unsaid. Batman continued, mouth twitching, “Wouldn’t that be suspicious?”

Wally thought about it for a moment, “Nah. You’re my tour guide. Besides, we still have to work out the details for the forensics lesson.”

“Fine,” Batman muttered.

Wally mentally cheered. The two walked towards the hero cafeteria in a comfortable silence. A lot of people they passed did double takes, as if they couldn’t compute the idea of Batman walking companionably with someone. Wally thought it was funny, Batman didn’t.

The two arrived at the cafeteria, getting a lot of attention as they entered. Batman by himself was normal. Batman with someone was unusual. Batman with a civilian was practically unheard of. Wally smiled and waved to everyone as they walked to the food line, while Batman used his signature batglare, causing everyone to stop staring, at least obviously.

After retrieving his food (he would have to get more later as Flash), Wally followed Batman back to their usual table. It was early enough in the day that no other Founders were in the cafeteria for lunch. A good number of heroes were there, however, chilling between missions. With Batman there, Wally wondered if anyone would approach him. It was painfully obvious that a lot of heroes were curious, but were they brave enough?

Out of the corner of his eye, Wally could see a few heroes gravitating towards Question, as if he knew all the answers. And he did, at least most of them, but Question wouldn’t tell. Not about this. Question treated secret identities seriously. Wally watched as the heroes around Question grew visibly frustrated as the man wouldn’t give them the information that they wanted. Huntress, sitting next to Question, appeared amused at the situation. At least, that’s what he assumed was happening, as he couldn’t hear them talking from this far away.

Swallowing his last bite, Wally decided to head over and prevent the start of an all-out prank war between Question and the heroes. It had happened before when the other heroes pushed too hard. Question himself had come out unscathed due to his paranoid tendencies, but the other heroes involved and even those who weren’t didn’t.

Wally himself had even gotten caught in the crossfire; one of the heroes involved was trying to get Question to slip and had coated part of the floor with a frictionless, invisible substance. Wally ended up tripping into a wall headfirst at high speed. When he woke up in the med bay, he had a concussion and a broken wrist from trying to catch himself and the prank war had been forcefully ended. Everyone involved had gotten reprimands and extra monitor duty assigned. Batman had wanted to ban the hero who caused Wally to get hurt from the League, but the others had talked some sense into him.

Wally picked up his cookies and ambled towards the gaggle of heroes surrounding Question, leaving Batman alone at the table. He waved to Question as he got near, picking up some words out of the hubbub, “-won’t you tell us?!” “Yea!” “Just tell us-”

The noise died down as Question waved back to Wally. As one, the crowd of heroes turned, spotting Wally behind them. A few flushed in embarrassment at being caught. “You know,” Wally began, one hand on his hip, “You could just ask me, instead of pestering Question.”

A few of the heroes, ashamed, left the crowd. As the heroes debated amongst themselves on who would ask the questions, Wally made his way to Question and sat down next to him. He set down his tupperware containers and pushed them towards Question, “Cookie?”

To the utter astonishment of the crowd around them, Question took a chocolate chip cookie and gave it to Huntress and picked up a sugar cookie for himself, tucking it away for later, when his mask was off. Wally almost laughed at the disbelief etched into their faces at the scene. It was a sign of trust that Question gave a cookie to Huntress. He would never give her anything that he even minutely suspected was harmful.

Wally gestured for the gathered heroes to sit down as Huntress munched on her cookie, content to watch the drama. He offered them cookies as a peace offering and took a sugar cookie himself, eating it. Perplexed, a few heroes followed his example and nibbled on their cookies. Seeing that no one was going to speak up, Wally sighed and initiated the conversation, “So, what do you want to know?”

Stargirl was the first to speak up, “Who _are_ you? We’ve never seen you here before, but you’re friendly enough with Batman to eat lunch with him?” It looked like she had more to say but stopped herself short so she could hear his answer.

Wally held out a hand for her to shake, “Wally West. Nice to meet you, Stargirl.” They shook hands and he continued on, “I’m the new forensic scientist. Batman gave me a tour yesterday.”

Wally could hear someone asking what a forensic scientist was. He was about to pipe up to answer, but Vigilante beat him to it. The group muttered amongst themselves as they considered their next question. Wally glanced at Question, who was watching him and mouthed, raising his eyebrows, ‘Do they think I can’t hear them?’

Question tapped back in Morse code, ‘Probably. They need to work on their whispering skills if they don’t want to be overheard making plans on the battlefield.’

Wally was about to reply in kind when Booster Gold spoke, “That _still_ doesn’t explain why you ate lunch with him!”

Wally rolled his eyes. These guys sure were persistent. For a moment, he was tempted to call him Green Lantern. Wally decided not to however, as the kid already had to deal with people calling him that all the time. It would do him good to be recognized as himself for once. “We were discussing setting up a lesson on how to collect evidence, Booster Gold.” Wow, it was just plain awkward calling him Booster Gold instead of Booster. He sounded like a B-movie supervillain talking like that.

Wally smirked, amused, as Booster whispered under his breath, “He actually knows who I am! What am I saying, of course he knows who I am. I am the great Booster Gold!” Louder, Booster said, “You can just call me Booster, Mr. West.”

Wally made a face at being called Mr. West, “You guys can all call me Wally. Everyone else does.” He picked up another cookie and munched on it.

Shining Knight chose this moment to talk, “Wally then. You must tell me. What is your secret?” For a moment Wally was worried Shining Knight was on to the fact that he was the Flash. Just a moment. “These cookies are most delightful. Pray tell, how would one go about making such a thing?”

For a moment Wally was at a loss on how to proceed. Shining Knight wanted the cookie recipes? Ok then. He didn’t know that Shining Knight was interested in cooking. “I’ll write it down for you,” Wally answered as he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil out of his pocket to write with. He quickly, but not nearly as fast as the Flash could, wrote out the recipes. It took him a few minutes.

While he was writing, Wally could see Question peeking over his shoulder at the words. Were his Aunt Iris’ cookie recipes going to end up in a folder labeled Flash? Or was Question going to try his own hand at making the cookies, seeing as how Huntress liked them? She was on her third cookie.

By now, the other heroes were pretty relaxed around him. The tasty cookies had certainly helped, just like he had hoped when he was making them. Stargirl started talking again, her tone much friendlier now, “So how do you know Question anyways? He wouldn’t tell us anything about you except that you were a new employee!”

Wally considered how to answer that for a moment, “He stopped by my lab yesterday.” Which was true, but definitely not how they knew each other. When Wally had first met Question, he had dismissed the eccentric man as a nutty conspiracy theorist. After the whole Cadmus fiasco, Wally had started to respect him. It wasn’t until after the prank war that they started talking though. Question had tracked him down afterwards and apologized to him because he got hurt by a trap meant for him. It was the start of a friendship.

Wally was saved from explaining further by Shayera’s appearance. She walked into the cafeteria, lightly swinging her mace as if it was a toy. When she saw him and the cookies, she cried out, “Wally! You brought cookies!” Unfortunately, she just caused more questions as she holstered her mace and captured him in a hug. Wally blushed as he hugged her back due to all the attention.

Yes, Shayera, or Shay as he liked to call her, was the only Leaguer who knew he baked. Well, until now. She had caught him in the midst of baking once when she showed up at his apartment unexpectedly. She had been pleasantly surprised and had demanded some of whatever he was baking. He had been happy to oblige his big sister in all but blood. Now, whenever he baked, he made sure to save some for her.

Shayera disengaged from the hug as she noticed all the heroes staring. “What?” She asked, glaring at them as she took a few cookies. Wally sent her a look. A contrite expression appeared on her face as she realized that she shouldn’t know civilian Wally.

“How do you know Shayera?” Stargirl inquired. No heroes called her Hawkgirl anymore, except for when they were mad at her.

“Um…” Wally ineloquently began, trying to find a reasonable explanation.

Shayera came up with one before him, “Flash introduced us.” It was kinda true. In a telling her his name after she returned way.

Wally ran with it, “We hit it off. I guess we feel a kinship to each other with the red hair and all.” Shayera grinned and ruffled his hair as he said this, half eaten cookie in her mouth.

Wally could feel the next question coming, _how do you know Flash?_ This at least, he had an answer ready for. Surprisingly, it was Blue Beetle who voiced it. Wally answered, “I’m a Central City guy. He stops by at the CCPD sometimes. I worked there until Batman poached me.”

Shayera stiffened suddenly. “Speaking of,” Shayera said, sending a meaningful glance at Wally, “I’d love to see your lab.”

Wally grabbed his cookies as Shayera herded him out of the cafeteria. There weren’t many left. He still had to give some to J’onn, Clark, and Diana.

Shayera told Wally once they were out of earshot, “Suit up and meet us at the teleporters. We have a mission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was slightly derailed by cookies. Just in case anyone was curious, the word 'cookie' appears 64 times in this chapter. I tried to come up with a punny title involving cookies for this chapter, but failed :(
> 
> I was going to include the mission (and the rest of the day) in this chapter, but I reached a good end point and it was plenty long already.


End file.
